


Bound by Bone

by VanillaHorizon



Series: The Adventures of Anya [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Bets, Cute, Drinking, Engagement, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Magic, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mischief, Not Canon Compliant, Rogue Warden (Dragon Age), Sexual innuendos, Sexy Zevran, Sweet Zevran Arainai, Zevran being Zevran, dares, innuendos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-09 23:11:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16458833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaHorizon/pseuds/VanillaHorizon
Summary: Just a few tidbits, straight out of Anya Cousland's odd lifetime.Including her assassin asking her brother for her hand in marriage, an odd idea, and story time over cheese before more adventures take place.Sort of a bunch of random one shots that just fit together perfectly, sort of randomly placed memories with very little chance of them taking place in whatever order I post them.As stated in the tags, not 100% canon compliant.





	1. Before the battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's just a tiny bit of cuteness the night before the battle, oh and Fergus Cousland is 100% okay with his sisters odd relationship like situation with the elf hired to kill her. (Edited on 04/10/19)

At first, Fergus thought Anya was joking when she explained meeting the assassin who failed to kill her.

Then his little sister proceeded to tell him how she spared the assassins life, ended up killing a second caravan of crows in order to keep him safe, and also falling in love with the elf.

By the time she finished telling him the story, it was clear she wasn't joking.

His sister did however crack a smile when he joked that their mother was probably crying in frustration on the other side, especially with how she reacted when he announced he had run off to marry an Antivan woman himself, and how she always attempted to scold his sister when they were younger for playing with the elvish children around the castle.

☆☆☆

Days before fighting the arch demon, Fergus Cousland was approached by the ex Antivan Crow his sister had introduced as ‘My assassin, Zevran’ which in itself was still pretty hard to wrap his head around.

“Lord Cousland,” Zevran started to greet but was quickly cut off by Fergus holding his hand up and shaking his head at the elf.

“Please, you are basically family, call me Fergus, no titles are needed for family.”

Zevran was rather shocked by this, but continued anyway, “Yes, Fergus.” he corrected.

“As I know, your father has already passed so I could not ask him this honor, but I seek to have your sister's hand in marriage and wish for a family blessing if you will so allow it,” he announced.

Of course, Fergus was a bit shocked, since his sister had already told him about the golden earring, but he overcame the shock quickly enough.

“If you truly love her as much as she loves you, then you have my blessing.” he replied softly as he recited the exact words his wife's father once said to him, smiling at the memory, he nodded his head once, confirming what he had just said, “And Zevran?” he asked after the elf thanked him and started to walk away.

“Yes, Lor- Fergus,” he replied.

“Tell my sister this too, once you find the perfect material for the ring, bring it to me and I will shape matching rings as you wish.” Fergus smiled.

The former assassin tried for words but none would come and his silver tongue had failed him.

“If you asked me, I think a griffin and a crow would be greatly symbolic, considering everything,” Fergus said before walking away, leaving Zevran standing there completely and utterly speechless.

☆☆☆

Zevran told his Warden what transpired between her brother and himself as they lay in bed together that night.

“That is the sweetest thing any man could have ever done.” she mused out loud, receiving a chaste forehead kiss in return.

The Warden beside him soon sighed though, “Zev, we don't even know if we will both live through the battle in a few days.” she muttered quietly.

“Granted fate will allow us, then we will go along with our plan." he announced.

"We will search for a perfect material after we slay the horrid creature, and after we find it and receive our rings, we shall force chantry boy- or should I say King chantry boy, to wed us, since he can now do so.” Zevran smiled, deciding to think only of their future should they both live, not allowing the thought of death separating them to even cross his mind.

“Wait, 'We' slay the horrid creature?” she asked with shock clear in her voice, causing Zevran to chuckle lightly.

“Yes, my dear, ‘we’ because as you should well know, I will not allow you to go into such a dangerous situation without me by your side since we are to be wed soon.” he left out the next thing he had planned on saying, because ‘I will die defending you’ sounded a bit too cliché even for his liking.

Soon enough the warden, his warden, was fast asleep on his chest, and his hands were entwined with hers, as he too succumbed to sleep that night.


	2. The Battle Begins and Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it begins and ends... WITH SOME MID-FIGHT BANTER and a cute, albeit quick, midbattle smooch. Oh! and there's blood and a very large rib bone. (Edited on 4/10/2019)

The fight had started, Wynne, himself and Alistair, were knocking down darkspawn alongside Anya, as they awaited the archdemons arrival.

Soon enough he and his beloved were back to back, trading blows fluidly with a small group of darkspawn who had attempted to corner the two, but gladly enough, dual blades are a great way to quickly disperse multiple enemies at one time.

“I hope you know, I'll be taking your name, my dear.” Zevran loudly announced as he sliced off a hurlock’s head.

Anya cursed as she kicked a genlock to the ground and skewered him, “You pick now to talk about this?” she asked as she dodged another arrow aimed at her.

“Now is just as good of time as any, and I know it's not traditional but I do not wish you to carry a name with such a meaning as the one forced upon me,” he answered as he dodged a random blast of magic fired very much too close to his face for his liking.

Anya chuckled, “Neither is a human marrying the elvish assassin sent to kill her.” she joked, as she stabbed a darkspawn in the eye socket, “I don't think a single thing about us is traditional there handsome.” she said, gaining a smile from Zevran as he pulled his dagger out of one of the two remaining genlocks that were standing in front of him.

“Love, there's a darkspawn somewhere trying to shoot me!” she groaned as she dodged another arrow and shoved a dagger into yet another hurlock.

He glanced around and immediately found the culprit, “I'm on it.” he said with a quick kiss to her cheek before he took off after a bow-wielding darkspawn who was trying to shoot his beloved.

☆☆☆

“Wynne, Zevran, cover us!” Anya shouted over her shoulder at two of her companions as she took off running with Alistair toward the archdemon.

When she caught up to Alistair she drew her dual blades, “I sure hope Morrigan’s plan works!” Alistair yelled over the noise of the battle all around them.

“Me and you both.” she laughed “Oh, and by the way, after we get the rings you're officiating a wedding!” she added.

“What?” he asked with shock evident on his face, as he knocked a genlock away from himself with his shield.

A blast of magic could be heard from behind the two wardens, “Zevran asked for Fergus’ blessing!” she laughed as she glanced over at the cheese-loving goofball she officially claimed as a best friend shortly after meeting him.

☆☆☆

“Sword!” Anya yelled at Alistair as she tossed a dagger at him, it was something they grew accustomed to doing, swapping weapons during battle when needed.

He tossed her his sword and caught her dagger just before he smacked the archdemon in the jaw with his shield, distracting it enough to allow Anya to slide between the great beast's front legs and under its chest.

She then proceeded to shove the sword between two of the beasts' ribs and with the exact momentum she needed, she put enough force into that one swift motion that as a rib bone snapped and broke through the surface of the beast's side, blood poured over her.

“Gross!” she yelled as she pulled the sword from the archdemons wound and rolled to the side just in time to avoid a giant claw crushing her.

Alistair had shoved her dagger into the back leg closest to him, allowing another distraction, just enough for Anya to shove Alistair's sword straight through the claw that had nearly crushed her.

As soon as she pulled the sword out of the beast's claw, a burst of magic took out the front leg opposite of her causing the archdemon to collapse forward, giving her a perfect shot to kill it.

“Thanks, Wynne!” she yelled as she jumped up onto the beast's neck and landed the killing blow with Alistair's sword.

☆☆☆

A gentle rain started, even though the sky was mostly clear as her feet landed on the ground, “I believe this is yours.” Alistair smiled as he approached his longtime friend, holding her dagger out to her.

“Uh, yours is kind of stuck.” she laughed as she pointed to the sword that was buried hilt deep in the archdemon.

Arms wrapped around her shoulders and a quick kiss was pressed to the top of her head, “Good to see you're not dead, Ma Vhenan.” she told Zevran sweetly as she glanced up at him.

“My dear?” Zevran started “I believe I have an idea for our rings.” he said as he glanced at the rib bone protruding from the corpse that Alistair was presently trying to retrieve his sword from.

Anya followed his gaze, seeing exactly what he was looking at, “You are so amazing!” she squealed just as Alistair let out a triumphant noise.

“Got it!” Alistair chuckled as he jumped down in front of Anya and Zevran.

“You know how we met before my joining and you said something about the blight bringing people together?” Anya excitedly asked Alistair.

He rubbed the back of his neck in thought, “Uh, yea, I'm pretty sure that I think I do.” he answered as Wynne walked up beside them.

“Everyone is alive, thank the maker.” she smiled, “What has the two of you looking so mischievous?” she asked Zevran and Anya.

“We're gonna use that rib bone,” Anya started as she pointed toward the bone, “For our wedding rings.” she giggled.

“Wait, what?” Alistair questioned with wide eyes.

She smirked at her fellow warden before answering, “You said it yourself, the blight brings people together.” she said, making Zevran chuckle at the look on Alistair's face.

“That is if you'll help me out a bit,” she added as she turned to Wynne with wide and hopeful eyes.

“I do suppose that I could help you break a section of the bone off.” Wynne agreed.

With a bit of ice magic from Wynne, Zevran and Alistair's muscle, and Anya’s dangerously sharp daggers, Zevran and Anya had collected the perfect material for their rings.


	3. Compromise via Cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alistair talking all kingly, also calling Anya by her nickname, a nickname that's really fucking accurate since she has to stand on her tip toes to kiss Zevran on the cheek. (Edited on 4/10/2019)

“Sorry, my king, but we need to get these mages back to the circle as quickly as possible so we should be going very soon.” a templar explained after Alistair offered for them to stay until the after battle celebration took place.

Alistair smirked, “Wow, it's gonna take some getting used to, to be called that.” he quietly joked to Anya who was his acting guard until he made sure no one wanted to kill him after the whole killing Loghain and throwing the queen in prison thing.

“All right, but at least stay the night, most of the soldiers who fought are still in need of healing, and after that, the mages will need to rest up for the journey too,” he said, mainly thinking about Wynne and how exhausted she looked after they made their way back to the rest of their comrades.

“As you wish, my king.” the templar said before turning and leaving the room.

Anya chuckled quietly when Alistair sighed dramatically, “How does it feel to be called ‘my king’ so much?” she giggled.

“Not a word, Tiny, this was your idea.” he groaned.

“Now I'm just happy that I can pick on you about something other than your love for cheese and obsession with your hair.” she joked.

“Oh, you know you think my hair is pretty.” he said as he stood up, “Now speaking of cheese, I believe I now have a ton of cheese that I can eat whenever I want, let us go ravenously attack the food supply,” he added as he walked out of the room.

Another giggle came from Anya, “Kitchen is the other way, your highness!” she laughed as she followed after him out of the room.

“I knew that!”

"Then how come you went the wrong way?" She asked as he abruptly turned on his heel and headed the right direction.

He shook his head, "Because I don't have someone walking in front of me anymore to make sure I don't get lost." He joked.

"You have an okay sense of direction, you know which way is up, so that's a plus."

A loud bark was heard from down the hall, "Uh, Tiny?" Alistair suddenly got a bit quiet, "Was that your dogs bark?" He asked softly.

"Probably, last I seen of the stinker was after Wynne gave him a bath, he jumped on Zevran and completely soaked him, then I left for the alienage before Zev got changed," She started, "Actually he did go with us that day, he bit a templar, remember?" She amended.

A furry blur ran by as Anya finished talking, "Yup, that's yours." Alistair told her.

"Oh, believe me, I remember that, and thank you for what you're doing there, I'm glad we can fix stuff up now since I'm king and all, I felt so bad to see how they were forced to live back when we visited." He praised.

"It's the least I can do, I mean they deserve to be treated like actual people, not slaves." She said.

Alistair opened the door to the kitchen and held it open for Anya, "By the way, you never did tell me how you know so much about the Dalish." He pointed out.

"First, food, then story time, how does that sound?" She asked.

"Sounds like my first compromise as king."

Anya told Alistair stories while the two of them ate.

The stories she told her friend were of her childhood at Highever, something she refrained from talking about too much during the blight.

☆☆☆

By the time someone came to find the two, Alistair had not only heard the story of the broken dalish clan that Anya's father had saved from a pack of bears and brought back to Highever, much to her mother's dismay but also many stories about the mischievous streak she had as a child.

All of the stories he heard during that short period of time were stories that only Zevran had the pleasure of being told during their time traveling across Thedas.


	4. Bucket of Tar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A freshly bathed Charmer jumps on top of Zevran and soaks him, Anya is helping fix up the alienage a bit, and Soris asks for some relationship advice. (Edited on 4/12/2019)

Leliana knocked on the door softly, “Yes?” the voice belonged to Zevran, “We are decent enough, come in.” he said over the warden's rambling.

“I mean yes, you could wear your armor, but wearing leather while working is not necessary, mainly because it will probably get very uncomfortable once you get warm enough.” Anya pointed out, “Please tell him that I'm right.” she pleaded with the bard as she walked into the room.

“She does have a point, leather can get extremely uncomfortable once you start to sweat.” Leliana agreed.

Anya stuck her tongue out at Zevran, “Told you so.” she muttered.

“But if I do not wear armor then at most I will only be able to hide three weapons on me.” he pointed out.

Leliana and Anya both snickered as Anya glanced down at the nightgown she was wearing, “Ma vhenan, with what little clothing I'm wearing and a pair of boots, I could easily hide nine weapons on myself and no one would be the wiser.” she pointed out.

“Within my chantry robes, I could hide at least twelve,” Leliana added.

“So wear a tunic and I'll help you hide a few daggers.” Anya smiled before pulling him down to her height so she could kiss him on the cheek and then turning her attention to Leliana, “So, what did you need?” she asked before slipping her pants on under her nightgown.

“Oh, I just came to tell you that Wynne is giving Charmer a bath.”

Anya nodded, “Thank you, are you coming with us to the alienage to assist or will you be acting guard with Oghren for Alistair while I'm gone today?” she questioned as she helped Zevran remove his chest piece.

“Acting guard with Oghren, I'll also be using my free time to do some snooping around in an attempt to find out if anyone still has a problem with Ferelden’s new king,” Leliana explained.

“Good idea, I'll probably come back early today-” Anya was cut off by an angry scream in the distance, “What was that?” she asked, only to be greeted by a very loud bark echoing down the hall.

“Charmer.” the two women realized, just before the door was shoved open and ran the soaking wet mabari, who decided to leap onto Zevran who had just changed into a tunic and pants, completely soaking him as he landed on the bed on top of the very distraught elf.

A line of Antivan curse words flew from Zevran's mouth as Anya hurried to guide Charmer and Leliana out of the room, trying her best not to snort in laughter while Zevran changed again.

“Oh, you are having a ball with this, aren't you?” he questioned suspiciously as soon as the door closed.

“Of course, you're getting undressed and I didn't even have to ask,” Anya said sweetly after he stripped out of his tunic.

Zevran chuckled and attempted to grab her waist to bring her to him, but she back stepped out of his reach and clicked her tongue.

“No more fun until we get back tonight, we're already gonna be a lot later than we said we would be because of your idea in front of the fireplace,” she smirked.

“It would be a shame to let your extraordinary stamina go to waste after all,” he started, “And don't act like you didn't enjoy yourself,” he added just as she slid off her nightgown.

After she slipped her top on, she trotted over to him slowly with a very mischievous smirk on her face and leaned in close enough to whisper in his ear.

“I'll enjoy myself more after we get back tonight.” she purred before she quickly ran her tongue across his collarbone and hastily left the room before he could gather his bearings.

He huffed in annoyance “Maker, help me because I adore that tease of a woman.” he said as he finished changing.

☆☆☆

Charmer turned his head around to look behind him just as they approached the alienage, “Nice of you to finally catch up.” Anya smirked, already knowing who was approaching them.

“For such a small woman you can certainly walk quickly when you wish to.” Zevran joked as his arm wrapped around her waist once he caught up to her.

Anya glanced over to look at him, looking him over, head to toe, enjoying the view in certain places a bit longer.

The way his tunic clung to his biceps was one of the greater things she enjoyed admiring about him when in common clothes and not armor.

“Is that a dagger in your pants, or are you simply happy to see me?” Anya chuckled.

“Can the answer simply be that there is a dagger in my pants because I'm happy to see you, Ma Vhenan?” Zevran asked, in reply he only received a hysterical laugh.

After Anya had finished laughing so hard she wiped away a tear and turned to face him, “If you want, I'll polish that dagger before bed tonight.” she said before quickly heading into the alienage, leaving Charmer sitting at Zevran's feet.

“Your owner is an awful person.” he sighed, in return, the mabari barked happily, “Yes, I adore her anyway, I assure you that much.” he laughed before shaking his head and entering the alienage.

☆☆☆

It was nearly midday when Anya decided the group should take a break from all of the cleaning, rebuilding and such to rest because unlike her, she knew everyone else could probably use a breather.

Soris invited the two to sit and chat with him while everyone else went their separate ways for a bit, so that's what they did.

He was beyond grateful for all the assistance Anya had offered in order to not only repair what was damaged by the darkspawn in the alienage but to better it even.

The three chatted for a while, Soris asking about the adventures they had during their travels and Anya holding onto every word that Soris said about the city elves and their ways.

“You really did meet that way?” Soris gasped as soon as the couple explained how they met.

Zevran chuckled, “Yes, my friend, I tried to kill her,” he started, “Oh, how time has changed me, and now I would gladly kill for her instead.” he finished, gaining a cheek kiss in return.

“It has nothing to do with the fact that I royally kicked your butt that day?” she asked.

“Ah, of any noblewoman who could've bested me in battle, I am very glad it was you who royally kicked my ass that day,” Zevran said.

Soris just laughed at the exchange, “You two must truly love each other to get along so well.” he shook his head.

At just that time, a little elvish girl approached the three of them, “My mommy says you're a nice lady.” the girl spoke softly.

“Did she now?” Anya asked with a kind smile.

The girl nodded, “I like your hair, can you teach my mommy to do mine like that?” she asked shyly.

“Of course I can Da’len, where's your mommy?” she replied softly.

As the girl led Anya away from Soris and Zevran, Soris smiled, “It's sweet that you're teaching her to speak Elvish.” he said.

“Actually, my friend, it is quite the opposite, she is teaching me,” Zevran replied as he watched Anya greet the girl's mother across the way from them.

“See, my mother was supposedly a Dalish woman that I never had the chance to learn anything from because of her untimely death, so I only knew to speak Antivan and the trade tongue up until meeting Anya, I was surprised when she told me stories of how she learned Elvish in her youth and asked if I could help her finish learning to speak Antivan, in return I asked if she could teach me a bit of the Elvish she knew, and now, here we are,” he explained.

Soris nodded, “You said she was a noblewoman.” he stated.

“Yes, born by blood to nobility and trained from youth to be a teryna if the responsibility ever fell to her.”

“Then how are you together?” Soris wondered out loud.

Zevran chuckled, “I asked that also, my friend, I gave her dozens of chances to leave, but instead she accepted my past, she accepted who I am, and even when I gave her the chance to marry Alistair and become queen, she said she didn't want to be married to someone she didn't love as much as she loved me.” he smiled.

“Wow.” Soris mused.

“Wow indeed, even when I told her that I would happily become her consort if she chose to become queen, she rejected the idea immediately, and upon learning that her brother lived, she said she was glad she didn't have to return to life completely as a noble, she said it was because she couldn't do it, then later she told me the truth, she couldn't because she wanted to be with me, not prancing around in jewels but in armor, ‘as long as you will have me’ she said.”

“But, aren't there whispers, everywhere you go?” Soris asked.

“Of course, and there always will be, but after I foolishly lost my first love, I never thought I would have the chance at it again, so when I found it, I offered to let her leave, but when she refused, I knew I found it again, and this time I wasn't going to let anything keep me from loving her.” Zevran explained, “A wise woman once told me that finding love once was near impossible, and finding it a second time was rarer even, so I should hold on tight, no matter what.” he added.

Anya made her way back just as Zevran had finished talking, and stood to the side, afraid of intruding on their conversation too much.

Soris sighed, “I was betrothed once, I adored her, but she was killed.” to this Zevran nodded, silently urging him to go on, “I felt strongly, of course, but a few months after she died I found myself feeling even stronger adoration for someone else.” he spoke quietly, “I just need advice, because she's a human, and I don't know much about any outside traditions aside from my own.” he explained.

“Ah, relationship advice, I'm not the best person to ask, considering the number of people I have actually been serious about can be counted on one hand, perhaps Anya may be the best person to ask,” Zevran told the younger elf.

“Dear, if you please?” he said as he motioned for Anya to take a seat beside him.

☆☆☆

As Anya gave Soris advice, Zevran found himself sitting on the ground in front of her while she braided his hair.

While Charmer took a nap with his head on Zevran's lap, one of the many elves that had been helping them approached the group, “Are you the Warden?” he asked Anya, to which she nodded her head.

“That would be me.” she smiled up at the boy before quickly finishing Zevran's braid and patting him on the shoulder to tell him she was done, “What do you need?” she asked.

“I was hoping that maybe since you probably know them better, you could come with me to ask the dalish camping nearby if I could join them.” he nervously asked.

Anya nodded, “Zev, Soris would like me to tell him about the elves that lived at the castle, do you think you could mediate for me?” she questioned, “If that's okay with- I'm sorry, I didn't ask your name.” she realized.

“Apologies, my name is Naris.”

“Naris, would it be okay if Zevran went with you when you speak to the hahren, instead of me?” she asked kindly.

“Yes, thank you, I'm just nervous they'll tell me I can't join them,” he admitted.

Zevran moved to stand up, waking Charmer when he did so, “No worries, I'm sure they will readily accept you, they are polite enough people as it is.” he assured Naris.

☆☆☆

As Zevran walked back into the alienage with Charmer on his heels, he found Anya and the elves all hard at work.

Anya was on a roof, apparently fixing a leak, and Soris on a ladder not far from her holding a bucket of tar.

“Why aren't you the one climbing on the roof again?” Anya asked.

“Because you're a lot tinier and we have to worry less about the roof caving in since you're so small.” Soris laughed.

Anya shook her head, “Temporary fix, Alistair swore, so fear of the houses caving in should be a thing of the past soon enough.” Anya assured him.

“Ah, yes, and after speaking with a few farmers in from Redcliffe, they were more than willing to part with a small flock of chickens too, so hunger should also become a thing of the past here,” Zevran added, gaining a confused look from Anya.

“What are you talking about?” she questioned him.

Zevran chuckled, “It appears that the Grey Warden and her companions who single-handedly slew an entire army of undead soldiers are greatly appreciated, and I may or may not have asked a favor from one or two of the farmers who were there that had wished to repay your bravery before we left.” he explained.

“Wait, really?” Soris gasped, to which Anya just nodded.

“It wasn't really an entire army though.” she admitted, “And that was actually a great idea, thank you Zev.” she said before she moved toward the edge of the roof to get down.

Almost on instinct, Zevran reached up to guide Anya back to the ground as soon as she swung her legs over the edge of the roof.

Once Anya was back on the ground, she immediately grabbed the bucket of tar from Soris so he could get down from the ladder, “I honestly would've never guessed you a noble if it weren't for me knowing you.” he mused.

“Oh?” she questioned.

“I mean, you're just so polite, and nice to everyone,” he explained.

Zevran chuckled, “That she is.” he said before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing her on top of the head.

“It's how my father raised me, he insisted that no one should be treated differently, no matter how much different than you they look, think or act,” she explained.


End file.
